Old Course St Andrews - The Ballot

The Ballot


As golfers begin to shake of winter and prepare to golf 2017 many are going to be focusing their attention on traveling to golf in Scotland and the Old Course St Andrews in particular. The question arises: How do you golf the Old Course at St Andrews without an advanced and guaranteed tee time?

Answer: The Old Course Ballot


This is the historic lottery held by the St Andrews Links Trust every afternoon, except Friday, for a number of un-allocated tee times on the Old Course 2 days before you wish to play.

  • Applications are made 48 hours before your day of play
  • Applications are accepted before 2:00pm
  • You can apply in person at the Old Course Pavilion or Links Trust Clubhouse
  • Phone +44 (0)1334 466 666
  • The golfer submits at least two names and maximum of four
  • Home club membership and handicap details of all golfers are required
  • Request 'play at any time' to increase the chances of success
  • The Ballot result is available by phoning after 4:00pm that same day, visiting their website, Old Course Starter's Box, local pubs and hotels
The 2017 Old Course green fee is 175 Great British Pounds (GBP) - approximately $220.

If you are going to be visiting St Andrews for a number days the odds should favour success getting you out golfing the ancient links by use of the Ballot. The official line is that 50% of tee times are available through the Ballot every year and this is true over a 12 month period. In my experience there are 30 - 40% of Old Course tee times accessible during April, May and June and this decreases dramatically through August into September going as low as 15%.

 Golfers have to be aware that entering the Ballot over 4 or 5 consecutive days does not guarantee success but if you are not in it you are not going to win it. Flexibility is the key and while waiting for your Old Course tee time some of these compelling Scottish Links golf courses in the area of St Andrews should keep you occupied:

New, Jubilee, Eden, Kingsbarns, Crail, Lundin, Leven, Scotscraig, Panmure, Monifieth, Carnoustie.

Please remember that Caddie Golf Tours are here to offer advice and organise the best route for your golf vacation in Scotland and St Andrews. Do not hesitate to contact us through the usual channels, we look forward to hearing from you...Fore!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Identifying My Golf Ball

Image
I have over the years seen, in competition golf and fun bounce games, that it is really important to have a clear unique identification on your golf ball. I played in a wee competition a few weeks ago and all three golfers had one red dot marked next to the Titliest brand name! What are the chances? Boyne's identifying mark. After a wee think that evening I decided to go for a four dot two colour combination. The reasoning was that no other golfer is going to be this anal to sit for an hour and put a mark like it on his golf balls. I may need to get a life?!?
Read more

The St. Andrews Town Match 2013

Image
St. Andrews held the 100th playing of the Town Match on Saturday 14th September. This historic event is played between the local & international members of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club against the two main local golf clubs in the town: St. Andrews Golf Club and the New Club. 1st tee Old Course at St. Andrews Scotland There were 171 foursomes matches played over the Old Course, New Course, Jubilee Course and 1/2 dozen or so were even were golfed on the Strathtyrum Course. This amounts to 684 golfers in what must rank as one of the largest one day golf competitions in the world. The R&A Team view the 8th Jubilee Course Our match was played on the Jubilee Course at 3.20pm in great conditions as can be seen by the few photographs taken while we waited to tee off on the Par 4 8th. My playing partner Mr. Thomson The Par 4 8th fairway, Jubilee Course Putting out on the Par 4 8th green, Jubilee Course The game was played in good spirits, as it should be,...
Read more

Cruden Bay Golf Club

Image
To help entice you avid golfers out there to come over to Scotland for a golf tour this summer I will be posting some pictures of my favourite Scottish golf courses over the next few weeks.  It is going to be a super golf season here in Scotland with the Open Championship returning to Turnberry in July and the majority of our major golf courses having retained last years prices. Added to this the strength of the Dollar against the British Pound, it really has never been a better time for visiting golfers to tour in Scotland. Golf tours are approximately 20% cheaper than last year!  This is the unique Cruden Bay located just north of Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland. An astonishing links golf course that one will find hard to prepare for in a golfing sense...in fact nothing can prepare you for Cruden Bay! A one off. The view from the clubhouse over the Starters Hut to the magnificent links. It is a truly splendid links golf course with a tremendous location 20 or so miles north of...
Read more